Bob Ingersoll was one of many who sent a message that said essentially the following…
Probably not the first to e-mail with this "correction," but your "imagination" was a little off. James Brown didn't die the day before Dreamgirls was due to open. He died in Atlanta in the early morning of December 25. (It was probably still December 24th for you at the time) But as he was in the Eastern Time Zone, he died the same day that Dreamgirls was due to open.
…and somewhere in the Paramount organization, one exec phoned another and asked, "Do you think this helps us or hurts us?"
By the way: I suspect I'm not the only person who was surprised to see that the great James Brown was only 73 years old. I thought he was somewhat older than that. I guess that's what being The Hardest-Working Man in Show Business will do to you.